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Transitioning to Nanny

Next week (oct 3) I go back to work. We've hired an in home nanny for Childcare. My husband works from home so she'll have someone familiar around. I will be working on transition with the Nanny in my home for 3 full days Fri/mon/tues prior to my return to work. In that time we'll want to have her try giving bottles of my pumped milk. We will be reviewing paced bottle feeding. My question is whether I should leave the room/house when she does. Part of me needs to see how it goes but I also don't want to be there and stress about the fact that my baby is right there and I'm not nursing her. Nor do i want her to sense my presence, right? Or is it better if she does? When my husband did bottle tests I left all times but the last time. I hid upstairs and could hear my DD crying the whole time, but we had been having a rough couple of days w/her anyway and were testing a new bottle that wasn't well received.

I could also use the Wifi cam and log in remotely to observe, but its going to stress me out if it goes any way but perfectly.

Re: Transitioning to Nanny

When I went back to work when DS was 4 months old he had a transition period at the creche (and DD will go through this same transition time in a months time ). I had 5 appointments spaced over 2 weeks each lasting just under a half day and at different times during the day to get him used to nap time, feeding, playtime etc. First day I stayed the whole time with him, 2nd day I had to leave for a half hour but not when he needed fed, 3rd day for an hour when he needed fed, 4th day 1.5hours and the last day I only stayed for about 15 mins at the start then came back about 20mins before the end. Would you be able to squeeze in another day where you can try phasing her into being with her nanny?

Obviously our situations are differnt, but maybe you could adapt this to your own needs It has to be said that it is always hard when going back to work for both Mummy and baby, but you and your LO will eventually get used to it. As you said, at least your LO will have Daddy around so that should help her get used to her nanny. I really hope this helps and hope it all goes as smoothly as possible next week (for you and your DD).

-Ishy-
Married 28 july 2005
Mummy to my DS , born 30 july 2008
proud to have BF him for 8 months
Now a Mummy for the 2nd time to my DD , born 15 june 2012 for 15 1/2months! Still whenever we can and

Re: Transitioning to Nanny

Originally Posted by @llli*caledonia

When I went back to work when DS was 4 months old he had a transition period at the creche (and DD will go through this same transition time in a months time ). I had 5 appointments spaced over 2 weeks each lasting just under a half day and at different times during the day to get him used to nap time, feeding, playtime etc. First day I stayed the whole time with him, 2nd day I had to leave for a half hour but not when he needed fed, 3rd day for an hour when he needed fed, 4th day 1.5hours and the last day I only stayed for about 15 mins at the start then came back about 20mins before the end. Would you be able to squeeze in another day where you can try phasing her into being with her nanny?

Thanks for your thoughts and overview of your approach.
Can't squeeze in another day. The Nanny has family in town all weekend. Still not sure if I should observe her approach to feeding. Can't decide what's best for DD on that one.

Re: Transitioning to Nanny

Can DH observe her feedings? We're in pretty much the same situation (DH works from home) and since he did the bottle-feedings before I went back to work, he worked through any problems with our nanny. I just talked to her about frequency, amount, etc. If you don't want to go that route, I think it would be okay for the nanny to start the feeding, and you can quietly check in midway through or something. In fact, I was the one overfeeding DD (based on her occasional bottles), and my nanny was afraid to speak up about it (she had worked at a daycare previously) until I said we needed to cut back. So it's good if you can work together to make things work smoothly from the beginning. We love our situation -- we feel very lucky.

Mom to my sweet little "Pooper," born 10/12/11, and "Baby Brother," born 6/23/2014, and married to heavy metal husband. Working more than full-time, making healthy vegetarian meals for family, and trying to keep up with exercise routine.

Re: Transitioning to Nanny

Originally Posted by @llli*filmmommy

Can DH observe her feedings? We're in pretty much the same situation (DH works from home) and since he did the bottle-feedings before I went back to work, he worked through any problems with our nanny. I just talked to her about frequency, amount, etc. If you don't want to go that route, I think it would be okay for the nanny to start the feeding, and you can quietly check in midway through or something. In fact, I was the one overfeeding DD (based on her occasional bottles), and my nanny was afraid to speak up about it (she had worked at a daycare previously) until I said we needed to cut back. So it's good if you can work together to make things work smoothly from the beginning. We love our situation -- we feel very lucky.

Thank you. The Nanny is very experienced and I'm sure she'll be a good partner in this. She's 10 years younger than I, but given the length of time she's been at this - and me being a mom all of 10 weeks - I'm guessing I'll be learning plenty from her. I'm also asking her how she envisions the transition since she has done this before.

Re: Transitioning to Nanny

I personally would not stay and watch the bottle feeding. I know that I have a hard enough time when my husband can't calm my newborns down, that it would be nearly impossible for me to watch someone else having issues feeding my child. And if it went perfectly, that would probably bother me too.

Re: Transitioning to Nanny

Originally Posted by @llli*mommy2lilah

I personally would not stay and watch the bottle feeding. I know that I have a hard enough time when my husband can't calm my newborns down, that it would be nearly impossible for me to watch someone else having issues feeding my child. And if it went perfectly, that would probably bother me too.

I'd trust the nanny (it's why you hired her) or have DH watch IF she's reporting having difficulties.